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Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon [to May O’Brien]. Kate is sorry for the long delay in writing, but her novel [The Last of Summer] is in its painful last stages, and she has a mass of other work as well. She mentions having to work rather fast on a propaganda book, which involves a lot of reading and research. She considers herself lucky to be in Devon, where she has nothing to do but her own work. She regrets that she is unable to travel to Ireland until the restoration of her nationality.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 15 Farm Street, London W1 to May O’Brien. Kate is busy about future work, correcting the typescript of her novel [That Lady] and seeing publishers and agents. She conveys domestic and family news, particularly relating to her sister Clare.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon to May O’Brien. Kate thanks May for her parcel. She talks of Clare’s forthcoming holiday in Ireland. Kate has no holiday plans, because she is too preoccupied with the book [The Last of Summer] to be in visiting mood.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon to May O’Brien. Kate extends her condolences to May over the death of Kathleen O’Riordan. She is kept busy by various odd jobs, including bits of war work writing, which usually require travel, and finds it hard to finish her novel [The Last of Summer]. She also complains about not having to run her house without help and the increasing ration difficulties. She mentions Mary O’Neill, who is working near Reading and who is coming to see her.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, University Women’s Club, 2 Audley Square, [London] W1 to Anne O’Mara. Kate apologises for not having written sooner, but she has lost her reading glasses without which she is helpless. She is thinking about getting a flat as she must vacate her room at the club by the end of the month and Elizabeth Sprigg’s flat is full of relatives swept in from the war. She thanks Anne for the spiced beef and tin of soup, and is looking forward to a quiet Christmas with Clare.

Typed letter in French from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, Roundstone, county Galway, Ireland to Il Signor Fernando Sacerdote, La Borsa, Piazza di Pietra, Rome, Italy. She thanks Sacerdote for his kindness to her and Lorna Reynolds during their stay in Rome and requests permission for Anne and Stephen O’Mara to turn to him should they want to buy something to read. With an envelope.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to her aunt Fan Thornhill (Sister Mary Clare). Kate is sorry to hear that Fan has been very ill and wishes her a speedy recovery.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage to Clare O’Brien. Kate has to come to London to record a talk for a BBC series in which Irish writers talk of memories of their childhood. She complains about the post and discusses the war at length. She promises to cancel her trip to Illington if Clare is facing a lonely Christmas Day. She notes that her new novel will not come out until January and that she is already struggling with the next one. Two small sections have been removed from the first page by the censor.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 88 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, [London] SW1 to Anne, Stephen and Peter O’Mara. Kate thanks the family for their Christmas wishes and their present, which regrettably never arrived. She is sorry for the book tokens she keeps sending year after year, but in these complicated times her options are limited. She refers to business affairs, which she is reluctant to divulge in detail, but which will bring her to Ireland in March. She tells of her Christmas in Norfolk. She mentions Power O’Mara, with whom she has had a telephone conversation; and Mary [O’Neill] who continues to work as a draughtsman in a factory.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 24A Steele’s Road, [London] NW3 to Anne O’Mara. Kate discusses the Walpole debt (for which see P40/3/10/1/29/14). She tells Anne of her plans to return to Ireland at the end of the month as Lorna Reynolds has offered her a rent-free loan of a flat in the Mespil Houses. This will give her an opportunity to live cheaply while finishing her novel [Constancy]. She is happy to say that after her protest Batsford has agreed to a new contract for a second impression of My Ireland on a normal royalty basis.